Method and device for using styling tape for body and hair accessorizing

ABSTRACT

A method of using styling tape for body part and hair accessorizing is disclosed. The method may include cutting a self-adhesive tape into a strip or other elongate shape and stretching it to obtain at least some tension. The user may wrap the self-adhesive strip around a bundle of hair or a body part, and may press the self-adhesive strip onto itself to secure the strip or other elongate shape.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

[0001] The present application is a non-provisional application basedon, and claiming the priority benefit of, co-pending U.S. provisionalapplication Serial No. 60/410,090, which was filed on Sep. 12, 2002, andis expressly incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0002] The present invention generally relates to a method ofaccessorizing body parts, hair, etc. and, more particularly, to a methodof accessorizing body parts, hair, etc. with self-adhesive styling tape.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0003] The idea of decorating portions of the body and hair is known inthe prior art, and is especially popular with children for both dress-upand amusement purposes. For example, use of necklaces, earrings,bracelets, anklets, and chokers have long been used to decorate thebody. Similarly, many devices are known in the prior art that enable oneto style or manage hair that also include an aesthetic benefit to theuser. For example, items such as pony tail holders, pins, bungees,scrunchies, rubber bands, and barrettes have all been used to hold,manage, or otherwise decorate the hair.

[0004] Each of the above mentioned items, whether used to decorate thebody, or whether used to manage the hair have, however, one or moreundesirable qualities. For example, none of the above mentioned itemsare easily adapted to be used as both decoration for the body and formanagement of the hair.

[0005] Similarly, items used for decorating the body, such as thenecklaces, earrings, and bracelets, may have additional undesirablequalities such as cost and safety concern. The cost of jewelry, forexample, whether real, fake, or costume, may be very expensive whenpurchased for a child to use or play with. The jewelry may also create asafety concern, especially when used by a young child. A child may, forexample, swallow an earring and/or get choked by a necklace or the like.The jewelry may also be difficult for a child to use, considering thecomplexity and diminutive size of some of the clasps or lockingmechanisms.

[0006] The devices used to manage hair may have additional undesirablequalities, such as being uncomfortable and/or difficult to use. Adevice, such as a pony tail holder and a barrette may be hard and rigidin construction, which can cause discomfort for the wearer, especiallywhile sleeping or during activities. The devices, such as the scrunchie,may also be difficult to use in that it may require know-how and ordexterity, or the assistance of another individual to correctlymanipulate the hair into the device or vice versa.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a method ofusing styling tape for body part and hair accessorizing is disclosed.The method may include cutting a self-adhesive tape into a strip andstretching it to obtain at least some tension. The user may wrap theself-adhesive strip around a bundle of hair or a body part, and maypress the self-adhesive strip onto itself to retain the strip on thebundle of hair or body part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of two strips of styling tape,wherein one of the strips includes cut-out portions;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the styling tape of FIG. 1 on awrist;

[0010]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the styling tape FIG. 1 around abundle of hair; and

[0011]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a roll of styling tape.

[0012] While the method and device described herein are susceptible tovarious modifications and alternative constructions, certainillustrative embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and will bedescribed below in detail. However, there is no intention to limit theinvention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, theintention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, andequivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention and theappended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] Referring to the drawings, and with specific reference to FIG. 1,a styling tape strip is generally depicted by reference numeral 22. Asshown therein, the styling tape strip 22 includes a first surface 23, asecond surface 25, a first end 30, and a second end 32.

[0014] In one exemplary embodiment, the styling tape strip 22 may beconstructed with latex, and more specifically with natural rubber latex.The styling tape strip 22 may have many desired qualities including, butnot limited to, being self-adhesive, being perforated, colorfiil, andcutable with scissors, as well as allowing the skin to breathe and/orabsorb virtually no moisture. The styling tape strip 22 may have enoughinherent adhesiveness to adhere two styling tape strips 22 and/or twoportions of the same styling tape strip 22 securely together, but maylack the adhesiveness to securely stick to objects, such as hair andskin by itself. As such, the styling tape strip 22 may be used tosecurely adhere to itself, while not securely adhering to skin. Thestyling tape strip 22 may, however, be constructed of any other materialthat is able to accomplish the intended purpose.

[0015] The styling tape strip 22 may be cut with ordinary scissors intoa great variety of shapes, such as swirls, hearts, stars, waves,flowers, letters, numbers, and other various indicia, and the resultingcut-out shapes 24 may be adapted to stick to a separate, additionalstyling tape strip 22. Similarly, the styling tape strip 22 itself maybe cut with ordinary scissors into a great variety of elongate shapes.In use, the strip 22 may be wrapped around any number of objects,including but not limited to, bundles of hair, clothing, a neck, awrist, fingers, etc.

[0016] In one exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the user mayunroll a portion of tape from a roll of self-adhesive styling tape 20,and cut the strip 22 from the unrolled portion. The strip 22 may be of avariety of widths and lengths, as desired by the user. The strip 22, forexample, may be the full width of the tape as unrolled from the roll ofself-adhesive tape, or may be cut into any smaller width desired.Similarly, the strip 22 may be cut into any length as needed for theintended accessorizing purpose. For example, the user may desire to usethe strip 22 to fit around a bundle of hair, for which a short strip 22may be used, or the user may desire to make a choker necklace from thestrip 22, for which a longer strip 22 would be needed.

[0017] The user may desire to use one or more cut-outs 24 with the strip22, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, by creating the cut-outs 24 and attachingthem to the strip 22. The cut-outs 24 may be attached to the strip 22 inseveral ways, including, but not limited to, using the self-adhesiveproperties of the tape, glue, pins, fasteners etc. If using theself-adhesive properties of the cut-outs 24 and/or the strip 22, theuser may press the second surface 25 of the cut-outs 24 and the firstsurface 23 of the strip 22 firmly together, thereby attaching thecut-outs 24 to the strip 22. The cut-outs may be of a different colorthan the strip 22, and like the strip 22, may have a plurality ofcolors.

[0018] In one exemplary embodiment, the user may stretch or elongate thestrip 22 prior to or during placement of the strip 22 around the bodypart or bundle of hair. For example, either as or before the user placesthe strip 22 around an object, the user may stretch the strip 22 orotherwise place the strip 22 into tension. The user may stretch thestrip 22 as little or as much as desired, depending on the intended useof the strip 22. If the strip 22, for instance, is used to create achocker necklace around the neck of a child, the strip 22 may bestretched only enough to prevent sagging of the strip 22, whereas if thestrip 22 is used to hold the bundle of hair together, the strip 22 maybe stretched enough to ensure that the strip 22 properly secures thebundle of hair.

[0019] In one exemplary embodiment, to wrap the strip 22 around theobject (FIGS. 2 and 3), such as the body part or the bundle of hair, theuser may hold the first end of the strip 30 against or near the objectand proceed to bring the second end 32 of the strip 22 around theobject, toward the first end 30, such that the second surface 25 of thestrip 22 abuts the object. To secure the ends 30, 32 to each other, theuser may press the second surface 25 of the second end 32, and the firstsurface 23 of the first end 30 together, thereby securing the ends 30,32 to each other. Additionally and/or alternatively the strip 22 may besecured to the strands of hair and/o to itself using tape, glue, pins,other various types of fasteners, including but not limited to, hook andloop, snaps, VELCRO®, etc.

[0020] While the foregoing detailed description has been described withreference to specific examples, which are intended to be illustrativeonly and not to be limiting of the disclosure, it will be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art that changes, additions or deletionsmay be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of accessorizing body and haircomprising: separating a first roll of material into a strip, whereinthe material includes a first and a second side, and the strip includesa first end and a second end; wrapping the strip around one of strandsof hair and a body part; and engaging the first and second ends of thestrip to secure the strip on one of the strands of hair and the bodypart.
 2. The method of claim 1, further including stretching the stripinto tension.
 3. The method of claim 1, further including at leastpartially unrolling the roll of material.
 4. The method of claim 1,further including cutting at least one manipulative piece from a secondroll of material, wherein the second roll differs in color from thefirst roll.
 5. The method of claim 4, further including placing themanipulative piece onto the strip of the first roll.
 6. A device forbody and hair accessorizing comprising: a first roll of material that isseparable into at least one strip, wherein the material includes a firstand a second side, and the strip includes a first end and a second end;and an adhesive disposed on at least one side of the material, whereinthe strip is adapted to surround one of a body part and strands of hair,such that the first and second ends of the strip engaged to secure thestrip to the one of a body part and strands of hair.
 7. The device forbody and hair accessorizing of claim 6, wherein the adhesive is disposedon the first and second sides of the material.
 8. The device for bodyand hair accessorizing of claim 6, wherein the adhesive is integral tothe material.
 9. The device for body and hair accessorizing of claim 6,wherein the material is perforated.
 10. The device for body and hairaccessorizing of claim 6, wherein the material is constructed from arubber latex material.
 11. The device for body and hair accessorizing ofclaim 6, further including shapes created from a second roll ofmaterial, wherein the second roll differs in color from the first roll.12. The device for body and hair accessorizing of claim 6, wherein thefirst and second ends of the strip are engaged using self-adhesiveproperties of the material.
 13. The device for body and hairaccessorizing of claim 6, wherein the first and second ends of the stripare engaged using a fastener disposed on the first and second ends ofthe strip.
 14. A device for body and hair accessorizing comprising: afirst roll of self-adhesive perforated rubber material that is separableinto at least one strip, wherein the material includes a first and asecond side, and the strip includes a first end and a second end; and asecond roll of self-adhesive perforated rubber material that is cutableinto at least one manipulative piece, wherein the material includes afirst and a second side, wherein the strip is adapted to surround one ofa body part and strands of hair, such that the first and second ends ofthe strip engaged to secure the strip to the one of a body part andstrands of hair, and wherein the manipulative piece is adapted secure tothe strip by virtue of the self-adhesiveness of the material.
 15. Thedevice for body and hair accessorizing of claim 14, wherein the firstand the second rolls differ in color.